App Publishing Checklist

Transcription

1 App Publishing Checklist Is your app ready to publish? Before you release your app and make it available for users to install and share, here is a list of things to check. This checklist can be used by those responsible for checking digital publications in your organisation. 1. Consultant Checks Has the app content passed through the required consultant checking? E.g. has translated Scripture been checked by a translation consultant? Has it been approved for publication? Are you using an approved orthography? If you are using SAB to create apps to be used by a limited number of users, such as a reviewers committee, or if it is a trial orthography which you will want to update in a few months, please see the section below on Expiry Date or Limited Device Distribution. 2. Paratext Checks If you are using Paratext files, have you run the Paratext basic checks? (In Paratext, select Checking Run Basic Checks.) Has the text passed each of these checks? Critical checks: Chapter/Verse Numbers: Checks for duplicate or invalid chapter or verse numbers. Checks that all chapters and verses defined in the versification for the project are present. Markers: Checks you are using valid USFM markers and they are not in unexpected places. References: Checks that Scripture references, e.g. Mat 6:1-5, follow exact abbreviations and syntax. If not, they will not work as links in the app. Important checks: All of the remaining basic checks: Characters, Punctuation, Capitalization, Repeated Words, Unmatched Pairs of Punctuation, Quotations, Numbers. Spelling: In Paratext, select Checking Spell Check Current Book If you are using a Digital Bible Library text release bundle rather than Paratext USFM files, the basic checks will have been run already. 3. Permission to Distribute Content Ensure that you have the necessary permissions to distribute the content in the app: Do you have permission to distribute the text? Do you have permission to distribute the audio files, if any? Do you have permission to distribute each of the images, if any? Remember that for text, audio and images, the copyright is often held by different owners. You must have permission for each. You will have permission if: You are the owner (intellectual property rights holder) of the content, or 1

2 You have been given permission from the rights holder to distribute their content. Such permission may be granted: (i) in a license, such as a Creative Commons license, or (ii) in a specific agreement signed between you and the rights holder. It is important to know whether you have permission to distribute the content in digital publications. For example, if you know you have the permission to use a certain image in a printed booklet, you will also need to check whether you have permission to use it in an app. 4. App Installation and Navigation Install the app on at least two different smartphones with different Android versions. Choose models of phones that are owned by typical users, i.e. test on low and mid-range phones and not simply the fastest and most expensive phones you can find. Does the app install OK? Are you able to navigate around the app without any problems? Try selecting books and chapters, scrolling, swiping between chapters, searching, for words etc. Is text highlighting synchronized correctly when the audio is playing? Are you able to view the contents of the about box? 5. App Name This is the main title of the app, displayed on the user s phone under the app icon. Is the name short enough, e.g. Giryama Bible rather than The Holy Bible in the Giryama Language? Otherwise some of the name will be cut off when displayed on the phone. Is the name clear and understandable by speakers of the language? Is it better to use a name in a language of wider communication or a name in the local language? Is mixed case used, e.g. Tharaka Bible, not THARAKA BIBLE? Remember that app names will be displayed using the system font and not the app font. Are special characters avoided in the name which would require a special font? If the app will be used in different countries with different official languages, have you provided translations of the app name, where appropriate? E.g. if you want the app name to be Suba Bible in English-speaking countries and Bible en suba in French-speaking countries. 6. App Icon The app icon is the icon that represents the app on a user s smartphone or tablet. Is the image clear and not blurred? Will typical users understand what it represents? Is it culturally appropriate? Is the quality of the design sufficiently professional? 7. Splash Screen The splash screen is the image that appears full screen when the app is loading. It is optional, but if it is included: Is the image clear and not blurred? 2

3 Will typical users understand what it represents? Is it culturally appropriate? Is the quality of the design sufficiently professional? 8. Navigation Drawer Image The navigation drawer image is displayed at the top of the drawer that slides in from the side of the screen when the user taps the hamburger icon or swipes in from the side of the device. Is the image clear and not blurred? Will typical users understand what it represents? Is it culturally appropriate? Is the quality of the design sufficiently professional? 9. Fonts Are the font(s) readable and suitable for the language and app content? Are special characters displayed correctly? Is the default font size reasonable? i.e. the size of the text when someone launches the app for the first time. If you have an Arabic script, you may need to specify a default font size that is larger than the typical default Roman script font size. If you use a font with a non-roman script (such as Arabic, Ethiopic, Thai), or if you use a Roman script with combining diacritics (ɔ, ɛ ), check that phones with different Android versions are displaying these correctly. In particular, Android versions 4.3 and lower will need Grandroid enabled within the app, otherwise the characters will not be displayed properly. 10. Package Name The package name uniquely identifies the app. It is a lowercase dot-separated string without spaces, such as org.wycliffe.myk.bible. Does the package name begin with your organisation s website name reversed? E.g org.wycliffe, org.biblesociety, rather than wycliffe.org. Ensure you have the right to use this organisation s address. Are the other components of the package name well chosen? It is a good idea to include the language name or code (e.g. minyanka or myk ) and the type of publication ( bible ). The package name can be seen by users when they view the app s store details in Google Play so it is important to chose it well. You cannot change an app s package name in the future if you want to update the same app. If you are publishing an app with New Testament books but there is the possibility of updating the app to include Old Testament books in the future, it might be better to have a package name which mentions bible rather than nt (for New Testament), e.g. org.wycliffe.myk.bible rather than org.wycliffe.myk.nt. 11. About Box Information Check that the About box of the app has the following information, where appropriate: The title of the app. 3

4 A description of the app, e.g. The New Testament in the Angave language of Papua New Guinea Contact information for your organisation, e.g. your website address, telephone number, postal address, etc. Are hyperlinks used for websites and phone numbers so that the user can tap on the web address to go to the site, or tap on the phone number to launch the phone dialer? Copyright information for the text as required by the rights holder, e.g. Text: 1997 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. Copyright information for the audio as required by the rights holder, e.g. Audio: 2005 Hosanna. Bible.is. The symbol is used to represent the copyright of a sound recording. If the font you are using does not include, you could use (P) instead. Copyright information for the images as required by the rights holder, e.g. Illustrations: 2015, Jennifer Coulibaly. Used with permission. License information: tell the users of the app what they can do with the app and its contents, e.g. The text is made available to you under the terms of the Creative Commons License: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works. Separate licences for different content as needed, e.g., what the end user may do with text, as well as what they can do with audio or with images. Choice of language: Ensure that the about box information is in a language that many of your users and members of the wider community will understand. Think of the way in which you would use an official language on the copyright page of a printed local language book. For example, for South American language apps, provide the license in Spanish or Portuguese rather than (or as well as) English. Creative Commons license wording in several languages is available via links on the Creative Commons website. IMPORTANT: If you are unsure about any of these details, please do not guess them. Please contact those responsible for digital publishing in your organisation for advice and suggested wording. Do not simply copy the About Box information from a printed copy of the text. The publisher information, licences, publishing date you find on a printed front matter page will often be different from what is needed for an app. A digital publication is not the same as a printed publication. 12. Books and Book Names Are all the books included that should be included? Make sure that you are not missing out a book of the Bible by accident. 4

5 Look at the list of book names for the app: Are they consistent, i.e. not a mixture of full names and abbreviations? Is mixed case used, i.e. Matthew, not MATTHEW? 13. Cross Reference Links If you have cross references in the app, are the links generated correctly? e.g. if you click on a link such as Luke 15:8, are you are taken to the right book, chapter and verse? 14. Glossary Links If you have a glossary book in the app, are the links from the text to glossary items generated correctly? e.g. if you click on a link such as Abraham in the book of Matthew, are you shown the glossary entry for Abraham in a popup window? If links are not appearing, check that you have used the \w \w* markers correctly. 15. Search If Search is enabled in the app: Is search working OK? Have special character input buttons been specified for the search screen? These are the buttons that a user can press in addition to the phone s system keyboard. 16. Multiple Book Collections If the app contains multiple book collections, e.g. other translations in local or major languages: Are the names of each of these book collections clear and understandable in the Layout configuration dialog box? Are the short names which are displayed in the small button at the top right of the text understandable and wide enough to be tapped by the user? It is better to use a short language name, e.g. Mamara rather than a language code, myk, which might be hard for users to understand. Are suitable fonts used for each of the book collections? Have you specified appropriate default font sizes for each, e.g. you might need to make the default font size of an Arabic script book collection to be slightly larger than that of a Roman script book collection. Is copyright and licensing information provided in the About box for each collection? 17. Interface Language and Translations Look at the language used for the interface menu items and search screen, e.g. Search, About, Match whole words, etc.: Is a choice of appropriate interface languages provided for typical users? What is the default interface language when users first install the app? Is it best to default to using English, French, Chinese, a local language, etc.? If the interface elements have been translated into a local language, have they been checked for comprehension? 5

6 18. KeyStore for App Signing All Android apps are signed with a keystore key. You can use the same keystore for multiple apps, or a different keystore for each app. Has the app been signed with a Keystore that you have generated for publishing? i.e. does the keystore contain some of your organisational details rather than being just a temporary keystore that you created quickly for in-house testing? IMPORTANT: Is the keystore file being kept safe somewhere? When you update your app, you will need to use exactly the same keystore file. 19. Audio-Text Synchronization If you are using audio-text synchronization to highlight the text phrase-by-phrase or verse-by-verse as the audio is playing, is the highlighting working accurately? 20. Audio File Distribution If your app uses audio, how have you decided to distribute the audio files? Package inside the app: Check that the app size is not too large. The limit for publishing an app on Google Play is 100 MB. If you want users to be able to share the app via Bluetooth, it would be better if it was much smaller than this. Distribute in an external folder: Do you have a good distributation strategy for making the audio files available to people? Download from the internet: Are you hosting the audio files on a reliable server? Test that this download works when you try to play an audio file in the app. Download from the FCBH Digital Bible Platform: Are you using a DBT key that has been issued to you by FCBH for this purpose? Test that the download works when you try to play an audio file in the app. 21. Expiry Date or Limited Device Distribution If you want to limit the lifetime of the app, e.g. it is a trial version: Has an expiry date been specified? What message will be displayed to the user when the expiry date is reached? Will users continue to be able to use the app after seeing the expiry message? If you want to limit the devices that can install the app, e.g. you want a restricted team to be able to use it: Have you specified a list of approved device IMEI numbers in the app? If you try to run the app on a device which is not included in this list, does it show an error message? 22. Archiving and Submission to Digital Bible Library If you are the rights holder of the app content, have you followed your organisation s guidelines, if any, regarding: Archiving the translated text and recorded audio Submitting the text to the Digital Bible Library (DBL). 6

7 23. Publishing, Distribution and Marketing Strategy Where are you going to make your app available? Which app store developer account would be the most strategic? Will you publish your app on a store page together with other Scripture apps from around the world? Or on an app store page together with apps from your country or region? Or a store page together with other kinds of apps for the same language (e.g. dictionary and reading apps)? Do you need to create a new developer account? For partner organisations of SIL: Are you able to use the Scripture App Publishing Service to build, publish and keep your app updated for you? Will you also distribute your apps offline, e.g. using a BibleBox or Lightstream, or via memory cards? How are you going to let people know about your app? Will you use social media (e.g. Facebook) marketing? Do you have a budget for paid advertising, e.g. using Facebook Ads? IMPORTANT: Please take this subject of app marketing strategy seriously. It is not enough to create and publish an app: we want to see it used! 24. Google Play Store Details If the app will be published on the Google Play store, check the following store details: App title Short and full descriptions: These should describe the app clearly to the target audience in the most appropriate language(s). Mention the country and alternative language names to increase the chance of users finding the app when they search on Google Play. Google encourages you to highlight what's great about your app. Share interesting and exciting facts about your app to help users understand what makes your app special. You must not include user testimonials, excessive details or long lists of keywords. See for more details. High-res app icon: This should be the same as the app icon but a higher resolution 512x512 version. Ensure it is clear and not blurred, i.e. it might not work well to take a 144x144 icon and stretch it to 512x512. Feature graphic: The feature graphic is displayed at the top of your store listing page in the Play Store app. Do not include any copy or important visual information near the borders of the image - specifically near the bottom third of the frame. Try to center align any logo or information in the vertical and horizontal center of the frame. Screenshots: You need to specify at least 2 screenshots of the app running on a smartphone. You can add up to 8 screenshots for each device type: phone, 7-inch tablet and 10-inch tablet. Have the screenshots been chosen well to demonstrate the app s features? Support address: Do you have an appropriate address to publish on the app s store page for support questions and feedback? Avoid using a personal address such as john.smith@gmail.com, or a work account that is unrelated to the publishing of Scripture apps. It might be best to create a new address for this purpose. 7

8 25. User Testing Ask a few people to install trial versions of the app and give you their feedback. 26. Final Approval After completing this checklist, have you been given the go ahead to publish the app by the person responsible for approving digital publications in your organisation? Last updated: 04 December